Nicholas Herkimer

Nicholas Herkimer (1728-16 August 1777) was a Brigadier-General of the New York militia during the American Revolutionary War, commanding the patriot forces at the Battle of Oriskany in 1777, in which he was killed.

Biography
Nicholas Herkimer was born in 1728 in German Flats, New York to two German immigrants from the Rhineland; the family name was originally Herchheimer. Because he lived in the Mohawk Valley, Herkimer spoke the Iroquois language in addition to English and German. Herkimer joined the militia during the French and Indian War, repelling two attacks on German Flats by France.

American Revolutionary War
In August 1775, Herkimer became a militia commander during the American Revolutionary War, while his brother Johan Jost Herkimer sided with the loyalists. In late July 1777, he assembled Tryon County militia to assemble at Fort Dayton, and he marched 28 miles out west to relieve the besieged Fort Schuyler (present-day Fort Stanwix) from the British, loyalists, and Indians. His column was ambushed by the Indians at the Battle of Oriskany, and he was unhorsed and seriously wounded. Rather than seek medical aid, Herkimer propped himself up against a tree and gave orders to his men, and his surgery at the hands of an inexperienced surgeon led to him bleeding profusely and dying of his wounds on 16 August 1777.